On Monday, Sept. 22, China’s internet regulator announced a two-month online crackdown on the country’s online content, moving to suppress material deemed harmful and tightening Beijing’s grip on what is shared.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) declared on Monday that they would take “disciplinary and punitive measures” against sites Weibo, a microblogging platform, Kuaishou, the second-most popular short video app, and Xiaohongshu, known as RedNote in English. Details are vague as to what the measures are, nor when the crackdown would start.
Within those sites, the CAC said it would search for posts with rumors of the worsening state of China’s economy, in addition to false information and “sensational conspiracy theories.”
According to Reuters, the CAC plans to perform “comprehensive inspections” on trending topics, recommended content and comment sections on social media platforms. Any “problematic” content includes fan group fights and doxxing tutorials, as well as pessimistic or negative posts that discourage hard work or studying.
Two notices published on the CAC’s WeChat account read that Kuaishou and Weibo had failed to control their content, which allowed celebrity gossip to sneak into popular topics.
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Both Beijing-based companies had claimed that they “sincerely accept the criticism” and would “take the matter seriously.” While Kuaishou said they “established a task force for rectification,” Weibo said it would “deeply reflect on our missteps.”
RedNote received a notice earlier in September, and formed a team to comply with measures and criticisms by the agency.
Kuaishou is currently being investigated in a separate case by the State Administration for Market Regulation after one of its units was accused of malpractice in the live-streaming e-commerce business, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
The CAC’s announcement came a day after authorities in Beijing claimed to have taken “compulsory measures” on three suspects, who were supposedly behind rumors and fake videos of famous actor Yu Menglong’s death.
China’s restrictions on social media are usually stronger than those of the West, empowered by the fear that controversial discussions could disrupt society in real life. Last year, the CAC launched a crackdown on “unauthorized” use of slang and abbreviations online, in addition to “sensitive words” that were already banned.
Ethnic Uyghurs were also banned last year from using social media apps, while Tibetans faced harsh restrictions on posts celebrating the Dalai Lama’s birthday that same year.
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ByteDance and Alibaba targeted
Other than online content sites, the CAC also targeted ByteDance’s news app Jinri Toutiao and Alibaba’s UCWeb browser for failing to sufficiently moderate content, marking the latest move in the broader crackdown
Both have been accused of “damaging the online ecosystem.” Toutiao was said to have shown “unhealthy content” on its hot search list, while UCWeb shared “sensitive and malicious topics” associated with cyberbullying and children’s privacy. The CAC sent representatives from the two companies, slapping them with measures including warnings, orders to punish those responsible within them, and orders to correct matters with “a compliance deadline.”
UCWeb said it had an “opportunity for deep reflection on our shortcomings in managing content rankings and the online ecosystem.”
Toutiao, meanwhile, announced plans to perform “self-examination and self-correction” with a special team. Three main areas to work on include raising the standards for reviewing trending topics, intensifying measures against illegal content, and ensuring greater transparency.
